


Apocalypse Prompto

by dentedsky



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Dark, Demons, Grinding, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:00:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentedsky/pseuds/dentedsky
Summary: One day Noctis stepped off the truck, wafted into Hammerhead like a breeze, and greeted everyone like he hadn't been gone ten years.  Like he had just gone down to the shops and had lost track of time. Like whoops, I meant to buy fish bait but then I played some Justice Monsters and it took me ten years to beat the final boss but it was totally worth it. So what you guys been up to?  Hunting demons in total darkness huh? Nice.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum
Kudos: 16





	Apocalypse Prompto

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in like early 2017 when I beat the game and I had to basically write down All The Feelings i was having because ffxv made me bawwww my eyes out. It was meant to be longer, with I think porn at the end, but o wel, it can't sit abandoned in my drafts forever.... right? right. Also this was written before any DLC... idk if that impacts much tho.

“Do you think he’s ever coming back?”

Prompto would occasionally ask this question, just throw it out there, and always Gladio would sigh long-sufferingly, like, fuuuuuck not this question again.

The days were gone, the nights were getting colder, and the demons were never-ending. They’d hunt, scavenge, make camp, hunt, scavenge, make camp…

Prompto took a swig of his home brew beer. Even with rations running low everywhere, somehow someone always managed to make alcohol. This beer was made from rotten old carrots, and tasted like shit.

Gladio was putting the finishing touches on dinner. He passed over the plate of salted fish with a small side of canned corn. Ignis wasn’t here to create miracles out of what they called ‘food’ these days; he was on the other side of the mountain, making camp with Aranea. They would meet altogether tomorrow and their destination: and old village that they had thought was abandoned until a smoke signal had come from there just two days ago.

“Yes, I think he’s coming back,” Gladio answered, sitting in the camp chair next to Prompto. Even though Gladio was always the one to confront Noctis, shake him, tell him to act like a fucking king for once, it was always Gladio who believed in Noctis the most.

Gladio bit into his fish. “He has to come back,” he said with a mouth half-full. “And if he doesn’t, we’ll go get him.”

“I don’t know how much more…” Prompto looked down at his plate. “...how much more of this the human race can take.”

Only one human city left in the world, surrounded by demons, with diminishing supplies… and then occasionally people would get sick, and there was no Oracle to cure them.

Gladio didn’t say anything for a while. Then he said, quietly, “Finish your dinner, drink your beer. Then after, we can do that thing with the sleeping bags again.”

That brightened Prompto up. “Really? Oh my God, we haven’t done that in ages - !”

“Don’t get too excited. God, you’re like a little kid – “

Prompto was bouncing up and down in his chair.

“Don’t tell anyone I let you be the big spoon,” Gladio huffed, but he was smiling, just a little.

*

Of course Prompto had thought _that_ about Gladio sometimes. He’d looked at the leather-clad bulge between his legs, years ago, thought _holy shit that guy is hung_ , but then kept that thought to himself. Gladio was completely and utterly out of his league, and anyway, it was obvious he had a type; a very blonde, blue-eyed, large-chested, _female_ type.

But then last night, after they’d zipped their sleeping bags together so they could share body heat and comfort, and then after they’d fallen asleep, Prompto had woken up to Gladio sleepily rubbing himself against Prompto’s thigh.

“Okay… I… okay. So that’s new?” Prompto had mumbled, getting instantly aroused. Then he felt guilty, because it was obvious that Gladio was humping him in his sleep and – “Gladio? Buddy? You’d better wake up. ‘Cause you’re – you know – I don’t want to – to take liberties – “

 _That_ woke the big guy up. He stared at Prompto in the dark. “What? Liberties?”

“Yeah cause you’re asleep and you might not appreciate that I didn’t wake you up and just let you keep going and allowing sex things while someone is asleep is considered non-consensual – “ Ah crap, he was babbling, wasn’t he? “Not that I mind what you were doing, in fact you can continue… if you want. Or not, whatever, it’s cool. It’s just us guys – “

“Shut up, idiot,” Gladio grunted, before rolling on top of Prompto. He grabbed Prompto’s ass and squeezed and Prompto moaned. Out loud. Loudly.

He couldn’t help it. He had his large, sexy, wet dream of a friend between his legs and nosing at his neck and shoving a large hand down his pants to grab the flesh of his ass –

The next morning (if you would call it morning, since there was no sunlight, only the alarm on Gladio’s watch), found Prompto and Gladio sweaty and entangled in each other, and completely naked unless you counted that they were still in the joined sleeping bags, which Prompto didn’t.

“Oh my God,” Prompto mumbled into Gladio’s shoulder, “so, _that_ happened.”

*

Three hours later, Prompto switched on the truck’s radio, hands still shaking a little. Nothing but static came through.

Gladio had one hand in the steering wheel, eyes focused on the dirt road ahead, looking relaxed as ever, as if he and Prompto hasn’t had sex the night before. Like, yeah whatever, sex between friends totally happens all the time, no big deal.

Prompto looked at him – at his hard jawline, his muscular arms – then blushed and looked away again.

“We're almost there,” Gladio grunted.

It wasn't twenty minutes later that they rounded the mountain to the abandoned village behind, and there was Ignis and Aranea, fighting a huge demon with eight legs and slime dropping from its mouth.

“Bout time you two got here,” Ignis shouted, sounding peeved. Aranea jumped up high as Gladio shot from the truck and ran into the fray. Prompto was slower, aiming his gun and mostly missing. When he did land a hit, the demon barely noticed.

Moments later, the demon disintegrated with a piercing scream. Aranea ran over to Prompto, grabbed his gun and said, “See this little thing here? It's called a trigger.”

“Yeah great, thanks,” said Prompto. “That’s… yeah.”

Aranea looked alarmed. “Fucking hell, what is wrong with you? I expected at least a half decent come-back.” She shook her head. “Did you not have breakfast this morning or something.”

“Yeah, that’s me! No coffee, no workee.”

She grunted, looking both concerned and dissatisfied.

The town had been occupied once, probably nine or ten years ago. It was dark and derelict and most of the buildings had crumbled away.

But then, from the corner of his eye, Prompto saw movement.

A little girl ran out of the nearest house, aimed straight for Gladio, and kicked him in the shins. “OW!” Gladio yelled. Prompt would have laughed if he wasn’t so shocked.

“You _killed my dad!_ ” she screamed at Gladio, then kicked him again.

*

It was seen sometimes – the pure fear in their eyes, smouldering there before simmering into anger and violence. When someone gets infected, the population seemed to react in two ways: they try to fix, or they try to expel.

As it so happened, the girl wasn’t so little afterall – she was about sixteen years old, and had been the daughter of an infected man who had been kicked out of Lestallum by his peers. She was skinny and small, and gobbled down the sandwich Prompto handed to her on the ride back home.

When they got back, Ignis and Gladio took her to Lestallum’s only hospital. Prompto stared after them, and tried not to think about the fact that it was where Gladio’s girlfriend worked.

Aranea looked at Prompto, then looked at the others as they retreated, then back at Prompto.

“I’m meeting Biggs and Wedge at the pub; wanna come?”

Prompto was about to decline, but surprised himself by nodding instead.

*

...And then one day Noctis stepped off the truck, wafted into Hammerhead like a breeze, and greeted everyone like he hadn't been gone ten years. Like he had just gone down to the shops and had lost track of time. Like whoops, I meant to buy fish bait but then I played some Justice Monsters and it took me ten years to beat the final boss but it was totally worth it. So what you guys been up to? Hunting demons in total darkness huh? Nice.

*

“Still can't believe Gladio is getting married,” Noctis said to Prompto one evening on the way to Insomnia. Gladio and Ignis were cooking, and Prompto and Noctis had walked away a little ways to talk.

“I guess he grew up a bit. “

Noct raised his eyebrows. “Okay, I'm not surprised he's getting married as such, I guess I’m surprised he’s not marrying _you._ ”

It was so unexpected that Prompto almost tripped over the small stone he'd been absent-mindedly kicking around. “What are you talking about?”

“I just always thought the two of you would end up together,” Noctis explained. “He seemed so into you for a while there.”

“...ten years can change a person,” said Prompto, not believing a word Noctis said.

The king nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, I’m learning that. So the two of you never...?”

“No! Well, okay yes... there was this one time, a couple of months ago, we were camping just the two of us, and we, you know...” Prompto’s cheeks heated. “We had sex.”

Noctis looked at him with wide eyes. “Wow. Did he... you know... put it in?”

“Oh my god!” Prompto shouted, loud enough for the others to look over.

“Making a lot of noise is a sure way to bring the demons over,” Ignis scolded.

“No, he didn't put it in, “ Prompto whispered to Noctis, who smirked like he knew some secret.

*

Noctis told them to walk tall. He proceeded up the palace stairs, and was gone.

Prompto, Gladio and Ignis defeated the demons in their path, then headed back to the edge of Insomnia. As they walked the broken path, Ignis said, “I feel something coming,” and then Prompto beheld the most beautiful sight...

He didn't even recognise the sunrise for what it was at first, as it crept over the skyline like a cautious child’s whisper.

“It's the sun,” Gladio told Ignis; “can you sense it?”

“I can feel it on my face. “

“Noct did it,” Prompto tried to say, but couldn't, because he was choking. He thought at first it was emotion, but then he registered the pain, and then the panic when he realised –

“He can’t breathe,” said Ignis.

Prompto was falling to the ground.

Gladio caught him, then picked him up bridal style. He was running with Prompto in his arms while Ignis threw a potion on him, but it didn’t help.

There was so much pain...

...And then there wasn’t.

*

Everything was ivory-warm.

Prompto slowly floated down a river of white liquid, feeling serene and at peace. He opened his eyes and looked to the right, and there was Noctis next to him, standing waist deep in water.

Hope pinched Prompto’s side, but the grief pushed the feeling aside. There was no point denying Noctis was dead, about to say his last goodbye. Hardly any humans left for Noctis to rule, Prompto supposed.

When Prompto awoke he was in Gladio’s embrace, his large form curled around him, their bodies folded on the paving. Ignis stood ahead of them, arms and hands and palms open, head tilted up to take in the sun’s rays. Prompto wondered if his eyes were open too, his retinas burnt to ashes.

The sun made the city clear and sharp, its contemporary lines and edges tugging hard at Promto’s nostalgia.

As he gazed at the new-old world, he thought about telling Gladio he loved him, but Noctis's death had shrouded his will under shadow so deep and dark that no sunlight could reach. So instead he told Gladio:

“I don't... actually want to live. Anymore.”


End file.
